Vietnam may be poorer than India, but it is not as impoverished.
KAUSHIK BASU
ISSUE DATE: Sep 3, 2001 | UPDATED: Jul 3, 2012 15:04 IST
Kaushik Basu
As soon as our flight from Delhi touches down in Bangkok, there is pandemonium. Virtually all the Indian passengers are up and jostling to get to the door.
India does not win any medals in the Olympics, but when it comes to disembarking from aeroplanes, Indians have no peer. It is a pity that the International Olympic Association does not recognise this as a sport. From Bangkok a short flight takes me to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).
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It may be a manifestation of my geographic infidelity, but Vietnam seems more fascinating than any other place I have seen. The basic facts about Vietnam I knew well before my journey: that it has a per capita income of $370 per annum (significantly less than India's $450); that its economy is controlled by a communist Government; that it fought a devastating war with the world's most powerful nation from 1964 to 1975. It won the war but at the terrible cost of four million civilian lives (10 per cent of its population).
But this does not square up with the facts. Nowhere in Ho Chi Minh City does one see the kind of poverty that one encounters in Indian cities. There are beggars but they are better dressed and better nourished.
There is no animus towards the large numbers of tourists, mainly from Europe and America. The dollar is as much a Vietnamese currency as the dong. The average quality of life is impressive.
In the evening young couples ride their bikes to the banks of Saigon river in the fashionable Dong Khoi area, to sit locked in embrace and watch the barges. The women of Vietnam, all elfin charm, have the alluring quality of being both liberated and demure (besides having the best posture in the world). Clearly, they feel secure in the streets for they are out late in the evening, in their flowing ao dais or, more commonly, in western dresses.
Another big surprise is art. Art shops are everywhere. Not only imitations of Van Gogh and Picasso, even Botero, Hopper, German expressionists and Mexican muralists find space in the small Janpath-like shops. There are original paintings by Vietnamese artists also. I explored several galleries.
Prices go up to $3,000. I did not see paintings that measure up to the level of, say, Anjolie Ela Menon, but what is surprising is the high average quality and the amount of art being produced and sold.
The answer to the Vietnam puzzle unfolds gradually, speaking to people in the streets and economists in the know, and travelling to the suburbs and beyond the cities. One of the first clues to the puzzle is the realisation that there are no sprawling residential bungalows or dachas. And, indeed, a little investigation confirms that there are few very rich people here. Most of the cars on the roads belong to the embassies and donor agencies.
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The Vietnamese, overwhelmingly, use motorbikes and bicycles. Even ministers and politburo members go to work on bikes. Hence, despite the low per capita income of the nation, there is not as much poverty as in other Third World countries - the cake is divided much more equitably.
Another factor that has fuelled Vietnam's cultural achievements is its literacy rate. At 95 per cent, it is not only way above India's 65 per cent, but is comparable to southern Europe.
The communist Government's economic policy is notable for its pragmatism. In the late 1980s, it abandoned its overarching control. The reforms, the so-called doi moi, included greater openness to trade and foreign direct investment. This, coupled with the state's commitment to equality, has given a great fillip to the economy, which has grown at rates as high as 9 per cent in recent years.
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The economy's battle is by no means over. As it moves up the value chain in terms of trade and production (Hanoi newspapers keep referring to India's software success as something that Vietnam could replicate), it is being forced to do more business with MNCs. The Vietnamese are apprehensive that they will be duped by them. This understandable hesitation can and does lead to bureaucratic delays, hampering business and efficiency.
The other problem is that its admirable equitableness is likely to come under strain. The local people will sooner or later resent the wealth of the "outsiders", and many will strive to emulate them. This is bound to skew incomes and, unless there is skilful government intervention, may even exacerbate poverty.
With each passing day in Vietnam, I began to understand its strange mixture of socialism and the free market. On our last day, we visited the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, an 11th century institution of learning dedicated mainly to Confucianism.
At the bookshop, amidst books on Marx, Lenin and Ho Chi Minh, was a book written in Vietnamese. It is prominently displayed, clearly in the knowledge that whoever sees it will want to buy it. On turning a copy over, I realised it was a biography of Bill Gates.
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The author is professor of economics at Cornell University.
Published By:
AtMigration
Published On:
Sep 3, 2001
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